Law & Behold #35: Malaysiakini in Contempt of Court & the ‘Fake News’ Ordinance

After a brief hiatus, Law & Behold returns - now as a monthly segment - still with the aim of improving constitutional literacy among Malaysians, done in collaboration with The Malaysian Bar and the University of Malaya's Faculty of Law. In this episode, we look back at two issues that dominated the headlines in the earlier months of this year - first, the landmark decision of holding Malaysiakini in contempt of court for readers comments, and what this decision means for freedom of speech in Malaysia. Secondly, we discuss the issuance of the Emergency (Essential Powers) (No. 2) Ordinance 2021 , which makes it a criminal offense to create, publish, or disseminate “fake news” relating to Covid-19 or the proclamation of emergency in the country, or to fail to take down such material upon the government’s request. Joining us to explain these two major issues in detail is Dato’ Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a lawyer and expert in Constitutional law in Malaysia. Image Source: EPA-EFE, Shutterstock